Systems and methods for alerting users of the postponed recording of programs

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided herein in relation to notifications about alternative viewing opportunities for recording and playback of media programs. In particular, the systems and methods provide users with information related to alternative recorded programming viewing opportunities for programs scheduled for recording by a user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/129,140, filed May 29, 2008, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,989,561,which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to systems and methods for recording programsand more particularly, systems and methods for ensuring that users areaware of program recording times.

Recording devices, such as digital video recording (DVR) devices, arewell known in the art. Often, users desire to record multiple programsthat are broadcast at overlapping time periods, resulting in a recordingconflict. Some programs are broadcast at multiple times within a giventime frame. For example, the Comedy Central television Network maybroadcast the same episode of “The Daily Show” multiple times each day.Therefore, if recording an episode of The Daily Show at a first timecreates a conflict with recording a second program, the desired episodeof The Daily Show may be recorded at a later time or on a future day orsimply at a different time and/or day, later or earlier than thespecified time. Premium movie channels, such as HBO, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX,and STARZ, likewise broadcast episodes of their weekly series multipletimes a week. Information about such later transmissions is readilyavailable enabling a recording device to postpone recording ofconflicting programs.

However, current recording devices fail to effectively inform usersabout such postponement. More particularly, in displaying lists ofrecorded programs and programs scheduled for recordation, currentrecording devices fail to clearly inform users that recordation of agiven program has been, or is currently being, postponed. This resultsin confusion for users attempting to view a program they expected tohave been recorded at an original transmission time.

In other instances, the initial transmission of scheduled broadcasts arepostponed for a variety of reasons. Sporting events may be delayed dueto inclement weather. Other programs may be delayed due to sportingevents or other live programs lasting longer than anticipated. Forexample, on Sunday evenings during football season, 60 Minutes oftenairs in its entirety after the preceding football game ends, even whenthe game does not end before 60 Minutes regularly scheduled broadcasttime. Information about such delayed transmissions is not readilyavailable, creating challenges for recording devices attempting torecord such programs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide video recording systems andmethods that are capable of rescheduling recordings to avoid conflictsand which effectively alert users of such rescheduling. In part toaddress this need, recording systems and methods are described hereinthat effectively alert users of recordation postponement, for example,by displaying “rain check” notifications in affected program listings asappropriate.

One embodiment of the invention relates to a system for recording andplaying back copies of a program. The system includes a recording deviceand control circuitry. The control circuitry is configured to receiveinstructions to record a first program starting at a first time and todetermine that the system is not capable of recording the first programstarting at that first time. The control circuitry is further configuredto display a program listings screen that includes a listing for atleast the first program along with a notification to a user indicatingan alternative recorded program viewing opportunity for the firstprogram. Alternative recorded program viewing opportunities may includea pending future recording of the first program, a completed recordingof the first program which started at a time other than the originallyscheduled time, and a recording of the program that is available via avideo-on-demand server. In alternative embodiments, the notification maymore generally include an indication of an alternative viewingopportunity that may include a later transmission time, an alternativerecorded viewing opportunity, or alternative content that might be ofinterest to a viewer instead of the first program.

In one embodiment, the notification includes an icon. In addition, or inthe alternative, the notification may include text indicating a newtime, different from the first time, at which the program may berecorded and/or a color with which the program is listed to distinguishthe program from others in the program listings screen. The firstprogram may be an episode in a series or other type of program,including a sporting event, movie, performance, or other form ofprogram.

The program listings screen may be in list or grid format. For example,in one embodiment, the program listings screen is a scheduled recordingslistings screen (e.g., a list of pending program recordings) or acompleted or in-progress recordings listings screen (e.g., a list ofprograms that have already been recorded or that have started to berecorded). In one embodiment, the program listings screen may include acombination of scheduled, in progress and completed recordings. In someembodiments, the program listings screen includes a plurality of cellsin a time versus channel grid of program listings. The cells correspondto programs being transmitted at various times on various channels. Whena cell corresponding to the first program is displayed in the programgrid, the control circuitry displays the notification in the cell.

In one embodiment, the control circuitry determines that the system isnot capable of recording the first program starting at the first time inresponse to determining that recording the first program starting at thefirst time would conflict with recording a second program during thefirst time. The determination may further be based on program relativerecording priorities, which in turn may be based on user input. Inanother embodiment, the control circuitry determines that the system isnot capable of recording the first program starting at the first time inresponse to determining that the first program is no longer beingtransmitted starting at the first time.

In still a further embodiment, the control circuitry is configured todetermine a later time at which the first program may be recorded and tosubsequently record the first program at that time.

In some embodiments, recording and playing back copies of a programinvolves the use of an interactive media guidance application. Thisembodiment comprises receiving instructions to record a first program ata first time and determining that the interactive media guidanceapplication is not capable of recording the first program starting atthe first time. The method further includes displaying a programlistings screen that includes at least the first program along with anotification to a user indicating an alternative recorded programviewing opportunity for the first program. In certain embodiments, thenotification may more generally include an indication of an alternativeviewing opportunity which may include a later transmission time, analternative recorded viewing opportunity, or alternative content thatmight be of interest to a viewer instead of the first program.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the present invention, its nature andvarious advantages will be more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an illustrative interactive television system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A-2C show illustrative display screens showing television programlistings in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative display screen showing information relatingto a television program in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative display screen showing a schedulingconflict notice in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 5 and 6 show illustrative display screens showing lists ofprograms scheduled for recording in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative display screen showing a program gridincluding program recording status information in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows a second illustrative display screen showing informationrelating to a television program including postponed recordinginformation in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative display screen showing a list of recordedprograms in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of an illustrative process for managing therecording of programs in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative display screen showing a scheduledrecordings listings screen including additional notification icons inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative display screen showing a programidentified for postponed recordation, which may also be viewed via avideo-on-demand service in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 shows an illustrative display screen including a programbookmarks listings screen in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 14 shows an illustrative display screen showing a programidentified for postponed recordation for which alternative content hasbeen identified in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

To provide an overall understanding of the invention, certainillustrative embodiments will now be described. However, as would beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the methods describedherein may be adapted and modified as is appropriate for the applicationbeing addressed, the systems and methods described herein may beemployed in other suitable applications, and such other additions andmodifications will not be deemed to depart from the scope herein. Forexample, the features disclosed herein are described primarily inrelation to an interactive media guidance application. These features,however, may also be incorporated into any suitable application, such asa recording scheduling application, a gaming scheduling application, orother electronic scheduling application without departing from the scopeof the invention. Such applications may be implemented wholly on auser's equipment or using a client server approach in which the serveris remote from the user's equipment.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative interactive media system 100 in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention. User equipment 110 receives mediain the form of signals from media source 120 over communications path122. In practice there may be multiple media sources 120 and userequipment 110, but only one of each has been shown in FIG. 1 to avoidover-complicating the drawing.

Media source 120 may be any suitable media source such as, for example,a cable system head end, satellite media distribution facility, mediabroadcast facility, internet protocol television (IPTV) head end,on-demand server (e.g., VOD server), website, game service provider(e.g., for online gaming), switched digital video (SDV) system (e.g.,including a SDV manager, edge-resource manager, and edge-QAM subsystems)or any other suitable facility or system for originating or distributingmedia. Media source 120 may be configured to transmit signals over anysuitable communications path 122 including, for example, a satellitepath, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, an Internet path, or any othersuitable wired or wireless path. The signals may carry any suitablemedia such as, for example, television programs, games, music, news, webservices, video, or any other suitable media. In some embodiments, mediasource 120 may include control circuitry for executing requests from atrick-play client or an interactive media guidance applicationimplemented in, for example, user equipment 110 or a VOD server.

User equipment 110 may include any equipment suitable for providing aninteractive media experience. User equipment 110 may include televisionequipment such as a television, set-top box, recording device, videoplayer, user input device, or any other device suitable for providing aninteractive media experience. For example, user equipment 110 mayinclude a DCT 2000, 2500, 5100, 6208 or 6412 set-top box provided byMotorola, Inc. In some embodiments, user equipment 110 may includecomputer equipment, such as a personal computer with a television card(PCTV). In some embodiments, user equipment 110 may include a hometheatre or consumer electronic device, such as, for example, a gamingsystem (e.g., X-Box, PlayStation, or GameCube) or a portable consumerelectronic device, such as a portable DVD player, a portable gamingdevice, a cellular telephone, a PDA, a music player (e.g., MP3 player),or any other suitable home theatre or portable device.

In the example of FIG. 1, user equipment 110 includes at least controlcircuitry 116, display device 112, and user input device 114, all ofwhich may be implemented as separate devices or as a single device. Userequipment 110 may optionally include recording device 118 which may beimplemented as a separate device or as a single device. An interactivemedia guidance application may be implemented on user equipment 110 toprovide media guidance functions to the user for media displayed ondisplay device 112. In some embodiments, the interactive media guidanceapplication may be or include an interactive television application, atrick-play client, or any other application for providing media featuresto the user.

Display device 112 may be any suitable device such as, for example, atelevision monitor, a computer monitor, or a display incorporated inuser equipment 110 (e.g., a cellular telephone or portable music playerdisplay). Display device 112 displays the media transmitted by mediasource 120 over path 122, and the displays of the trick-play client.Display device 112 may also be configured to provide for the output ofaudio.

User input device 114 may be any suitable device for interfacing withthe interactive media guidance application. For example, user inputdevice 114 may be a remote control, keyboard, mouse, touch pad, touchscreen or voice recognition interface. User input device 114 maycommunicate with user equipment 110 and control circuitry 116 using anysuitable communications link. For example, user input device 114 may usean infra-red (IR), radio-frequency, Bluetooth, wireless (e.g., 802.11),wired, or any other suitable communications link. The informationreceived by user input device 114 may either be classified as a sourceselection command or a guidance application navigation command. A sourceselection command may include a channel change selection,video-on-demand selection, digital video recorder selection, or anysuitable selection that causes the user to view content different thanthe content the user is currently viewing. The content the user iscurrently viewing may be defined as content that is currently beingdisplayed on the display device 112. A guidance application navigationcommand may include any suitable command that allows the user to changethe information displayed in the interactive media guidance application.

Control circuitry 116 is adapted to receive user inputs from inputdevice 114 and execute the instructions of the interactive mediaguidance application. Control circuitry 116 may include one or moretuners (e.g., analog or digital tuners), encoders and decoders (e.g.,MPEG decoders), processors (e.g., Motorola 68000 family processors, orMIPS family processors), memory 117 (e.g., RAM and hard disks),communications circuitry (e.g., cable modem circuitry), input/outputcircuitry (e.g., graphics circuitry), connections to the various devicesof user equipment 110, and any other suitable component for providinganalog or digital media programming, program recording, and interactivemedia guidance features. In some embodiments, control circuitry 116 maybe included as part of one of the devices of user equipment 110 such as,for example, part of display 112 or any other device (e.g., a set-topbox, television and video player). Control circuitry 116 may alsoinclude advertisement selection circuitry to prevent the user fromexperiencing an episodic advertisement out of order. In someembodiments, memory 117 may store user viewing data that includes auser's history of viewing advertisements.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 116 may include a processor(e.g., a microcontroller or microprocessor) that receives and executesinteractive media guidance application instructions. These instructionsmay perform various determinations to ensure that the user is notpresented an advertisement of an episodic advertisement out of thecorrect order. Control circuitry 116 may include memory such asrandom-access memory for use when executing applications. Nonvolatilememory may also be used to store a boot-up routine or otherinstructions. In other embodiments, interactive media guidanceapplication instructions may be executed in other suitable stand alonehardware.

Recording device 118 may be a personal video recorder (PVR), digitalvideo recorder (DVR), video cassette recorder (VCR), DVD-recorder,compact disc recorder, or any other suitable recording device or storagedevice. In some embodiments, recording device 118 may be a storagedevice for storing or recording content or data recorded or provided byother components of interactive media system 100 (e.g., a storage devicefor caching live television programs to enable trick play functions).Recording device 118 may include one or more tuners, and may beconfigured to cache media as the user receives it with user equipment110 (e.g., cache the currently tuned channel) to provide trick-playfunctions for the user. In some embodiments, recording device 118 mayinclude circuitry to determine which advertisements should be recordedusing recording device 118.

A hard disk and other storage in recording device 118 may be used tosupport databases (e.g., a database of media guidance information forrecorded programs, or a database of advertisement information forrecorded or cached advertisements). A hard disk or other storage inrecording device 118 may also be used to record media such as televisionprograms or video-on-demand content or other content provided torecording device 118.

In some embodiments, recording device 118 may include IR communicationscircuitry or other suitable communications circuitry for communicatingwith a remote control (e.g., with user input device 114). Recordingdevice 118 may also include dedicated buttons and a front-panel display.The front-panel display may, for example, be used to display the currentchannel to which the recording device is tuned.

In some embodiments, recording device 118 may be a network recordingdevice that is located outside of user equipment 110. In someembodiments, the network recording device may be incorporated in contentsource 120 (e.g., at the head-end of a cable plant), data source 124,VOD server 140, user equipment 110 (e.g., as a second recording device,or a hard drive on a home computer), an Internet server (not shown), orany other suitable device. In some embodiments, the network recordingdevice may be a stand alone device (e.g., a commercial network recordingdevice, or a DVR device in a home or neighborhood network). The networkrecording device may receive instructions to perform recordings from theinteractive media guidance application implemented on any of a pluralityof instances of user equipment 110.

In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance application mayprovide features to the user with a client/server approach. There may beone server for each instance of user equipment 110, one for multipleinstances of user equipment 110, or a single server may serve as a proxyfor each instance of user equipment 110.

Any suitable number of users may have equipment, such as user equipment110, connected to media source 120, data sources 124, and/orvideo-on-demand server 140. A single user may also have multipleinstances of user equipment 110. But for the clarity of the figure, theequipment of only a single user is shown. The equipment of the pluralityof users may be connected to media source 120, data sources 124 andadvertisement generator 140 using a cable television network, asatellite television network, a local area network (LAN), a wirelessnetwork, the Internet (e.g., using a DOCSIS modem), or any othersuitable means. In some embodiments, the equipment of the plurality ofusers may be connected to each other using any suitable means.

User equipment 110 may receive interactive media guidance applicationdata from one or more data sources 124. Data sources 124 may providedata for a particular type of media or for a particular application. Forexample, one data source 124 may provide data for non-on-demand media(e.g., non-pay and pay-per-view programs), and another may provide datafor on-demand media (e.g., VOD programs). Or, for example, a single datasource may provide both of these types of data. For example, one datasource 124 may provide data for an interactive media guidanceapplication. Another data source 124 may, for example, provide data foranother interactive application (e.g., a home shopping application, andreal-time data such as sports scores, stock quotes, news data andweather data). In some embodiments, data sources 124 may provide data tothe interactive media guidance application using a client/serverapproach. There may be one server per data source, one for all sourcesor, in some embodiments, a single server may communicate as a proxybetween user equipment 110 and various data sources 124. In suchembodiments, data source 124 may include control circuitry for executingthe instructions of the online media guidance application. Data source124 may provide guide data to the interactive media guidanceapplication. In one embodiment, the guide data provided by data source124 may be periodically downloaded in part (e.g., updated) or in wholeto memory 117 of control circuitry 116. The guide data may includeprogram listings, or any other suitable guide data. In anotherembodiment, the data source 124 providing guide data provides real-timeor near real-time schedule updates, including for example, updates toprogram start times and end times as may result from unscheduled programdelays, including for example, and without limitation, rain delays forsporting events, a sporting event running longer than its scheduled airtime, or unscheduled news conferences delaying a program start time. Thereal-time or near real-time data can be communicated according to a pushor pull paradigm, using for example, a web service.

In some embodiments, interactive media system 100 may also includevideo-on-demand (VOD) server 140. FIG. 1 shows media source 120, datasources 124, and VOD server 140 as separate elements. In practice, theirfunctionality may be combined and provided from a single system at asingle facility, or multiple systems at multiple facilities. Forexample, a separate data source 124 may be associated with each of aplurality of television broadcasters and may provide data that isspecific to those broadcasters (e.g., advertisements for futureprogramming of the broadcasters, or logo data for displayingbroadcasters' logos in interactive media guidance application displayscreens).

FIGS. 2A-2C show illustrative program guide screens 200 a, 200 b, and200 c that the interactive media guidance application may display ondisplay device 112. The user may access program guide screens 200 a-200c by any suitable means such as, for example, pressing a “menu,”“guide,” or other suitable key or key sequence on user input device 114,navigating from another program guide screen or menu, or by any othersuitable means.

Illustrative program guide screen 200 a, depicted in FIG. 2A contains achannel versus time grid 210 of program listings which includes programtitles, channels, scheduled broadcast times, and other suitable programinformation from memory 117 of FIG. 1. The rows and columns of the grid210 intersect to form cells 211 (e.g., cells 211 a-211 c) correspondingto programs airing on multiple channels at multiple times. The programsare listed according to their normally scheduled airtime. For example,cell 211 a corresponds to “ER”, normally scheduled to air at 8:00 pm onNBC. Cell 211 b corresponds to “The Sopranos”, normally scheduled to airat 7:00 pm on HBOE. Cell 211 c corresponds to “The Simpsons”, normallyscheduled to air at 7:00 pm on FOX.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2B and 2C, in other embodiments, the programguide screen may include a list 220 or 230 (i.e., a single column) ofprograms. List 220 presents multiple programs on a single channel formultiple time periods. List 230 presents multiple programs airing at asingle time for multiple channels. In the grid 210 or either list 220 or230, the user may select a desired program listing with highlight region212 using user input 116, or any other suitable means.

To schedule the recording of a program or other suitable video, a usermay highlight a desired program (in the example grid 210 of FIG. 2A,cell 211 c corresponding to “The Simpsons” is highlighted), and press a“Record” key or key sequence, or select a “Record” icon from the screenusing user input device 114. In response, the interactive media guidanceapplication may direct recording device 118 to record the program. Thismay be indicated, for example, by the control circuitry 116 displaying arecording icon (see, for example, recording icon 406 of FIG. 4,described further below), by the listing for the program in thecorresponding grid cell.

Prior to choosing to record a program, the user may request additionalinformation regarding the program. For example, a user may highlight alisting using highlight region 212 and press an “Information” key or keysequence on user input device 114. In response to receiving the userrequest, the interactive media guidance application may display aninformation screen. FIG. 3 shows an illustrative information screen 300,which includes detailed information section 302, and program descriptionarea 304 (including the program title, time and channel). In alternativeembodiments, the information screen 300 also includes a video window.

Screen 300 also includes selectable icons 310, some or all of which mayinclude text descriptions upon being highlighted by the user. The screenmay include icons for recording of programs, series recording, parentalcontrol locks, or any other suitable interactive media guidanceapplication action. If a user determines that he wants to record theprogram, the user may schedule the recording by pressing a “Record” keyor key sequence, selecting a “Record” icon 312 from the screen usinguser input device 114, or by any other suitable means.

In some embodiments, the user may be watching a program on displaydevice 112 in a full screen view and decide to record the program. Torecord the program, the user may press a “Record” key or key sequence onuser input device 114, or use any other suitable means. A pop-up noticemay appear to confirm that recording has begun. The interactive mediaguidance application may also display the notice in response toreceiving a user confirmation to record the program. In someembodiments, the interactive media guidance application may directpop-up notice to appear automatically when a previously-scheduledrecording commences.

In some instances, the interactive media guidance application determinesthat the user equipment 110 does not have enough available tuners torecord all of the programs a user has requested to be recorded at agiven time, resulting in a recording conflict. FIG. 4 depicts a screen400 of a scheduling conflict notice 401 displayed when a user requests anew program to be recorded and the user equipment 110 detects aconflict. The notice 401 provides an indication of how other programsscheduled to be recorded will be treated in response to requesting thenew recording. For example, other scheduled recordings may be cancelledor postponed.

In the illustrative conflict notice 401, the user has just selected torecord “Simpsons”, which conflicts with at least the recording of twoother programs, “Friends” and “Pearl Harbor”. In response to detecting aconflict, the interactive media guidance application determines aconflict resolution. The conflict resolution includes decisions as towhich programs to record at the user-selected time, which programs torecord at a later time or date, and which programs to cancel recording.The conflict resolution can be determined based on a number of factors,including priorities assigned by the user to each of the scheduledrecordings, the existence of re-transmissions of the conflictingscheduled recordings, the quality of the available re-transmissions (forexample, whether re-airings are available in high-definition), intendedviewing time frames (described further below), or other parameters setby the user or determined automatically by the interactive mediaguidance application. Ties may be broken randomly or based on some otherarbitrary selection criteria.

In resolving the conflict that resulted in the display of the conflictnotice 401, the interactive media guidance application determined tocancel the recording of Pearl Harbor and to postpone the recording of“Friends” to a later time. The interactive media guidance applicationdetermined that the episode of “Friends” that conflicted with therecording of “The Simpsons” and “Pearl Harbor” was being rebroadcast onthe same channel at 11-11:30 pm later that evening and that a tuner wasavailable to record the episode at that time. The postponement of therecording is indicated to the user in two ways. First, a “rain check”icon 402 is displayed beside the program in the notice 401. Second, thenotice 401 indicates the time at which the recording will take place.Upon viewing the notice 401, the user can select to confirm therecording of the newly selected program by selecting the record icon 404using the input device 114. Alternatively, the user can cancel the newrecording request by selecting the cancel icon 406 using the inputdevice 114, or by other suitable means.

In the notice 401, the rain check icon 402 is displayed as an umbrella.In other implementations, the rain check icon may be displayed as a raindrop, a rain cloud, the words “rain check” or “postponed”, orabbreviations thereof, surrounded by a geometric shape such as an oval,rectangle, or other suitable oblong shape.

To place a limit on how far in the future to look for additionaltransmissions, the interactive media guidance application may determinewhen the user will likely view the program. This determination may bemade automatically (e.g., based on the user viewing history) or inresponse to a user indication. Once the interactive media guidanceapplication determines a time frame in which the user intends on viewingthe program, it may limit the search for all other transmissions of theprogram to those that are within that time frame.

After a user has scheduled one or more recordings, the user may access a“Scheduled Recordings” listings screen that displays at least a subsetof the programs that the user requested to have recorded. FIG. 5 is ascreen 500 including an illustrative Scheduled Recordings listingsscreen 501. The user may access the Scheduled Recordings listings screen501 by pressing a “Scheduled Recordings Menu” key or key sequence,navigating from one of the interactive media guidance applicationscreens, or by any other suitable means.

The Scheduled Recordings listings screen 501 lists programs requested tobe recorded on a given day. If more programs are requested to berecorded than can fit on a single screen, the user can navigate to viewadditional requested recordings by pressing a “page down” key,navigating using cursor keys to the bottom of a displayed list, or othersuitable means. Users can navigate to view recordings requested to bescheduled on other days by pressing, for example, “right” or “left”navigation buttons, “day forward” or “day back” navigation buttons onthe user device 114, or by other suitable means. Users may obtainadditional information about a particular listed program by navigatingto the program and pressing an “ok”, “select”, or “information” button.Upon navigating to a program, basic information, such as title, channel,rating, and time, about the program is displayed on the screen 500 aboutthe Scheduled Recordings listings screen 501.

In one embodiment, programs listed in the Scheduled Recordings listingsscreen 501 preferably remain in the listings screen until such programsare recorded. In another embodiment, the programs remain on the listingsscreen until their respective end times have passed.

Within the Scheduled Recordings listings screen 501, an icon isdisplayed next to each program requested to be recorded to indicate itsrecording status. For example, One-Time Recording icon 502, displayednext to “The Simpsons” indicates that the recording request is aone-time recordation request, and that the interactive media guidanceapplication will record the program at the originally scheduledtransmission time. Cancelled One-Time Recording Icon 504 indicates thatthe user had requested the program to be recorded on a one-time basis,but that the recording has been canceled. For example, the recording mayhave been canceled due to a conflict that could not be resolved bypostponing the program in question. Series Recording icon 506 indicatesthe program corresponds to an episode of a series that the user hasrequested to record some or all episodes of, and that the interactivetelevision program will record the program at the originally scheduletransmission time. Rain Check icon 508 indicates, as described above,that the program will be recorded at a later time.

This later transmission time may not occur until several days after theoriginal transmission time. In such cases, had the interactive mediaguidance application not displayed the postponed program in theScheduled Recordings listings screen 501 at its original transmissiontime (referred to as a “placeholder listing”) a user would have had tonavigate through multiple pages of Scheduled Recordings to find thepostponed recording. If the user did not quickly find the postponedrecordation listing, the user would have been left with uncertainty asto whether the interactive media guidance application intended to recordthe program at all. The inclusion of the placeholder listing with theRain Check icon 508 resolves this uncertainty.

In the particular implementation of the Scheduled Recordings listingsscreen 501 of FIG. 5, the interactive media guidance application doesnot list the date and time at which the postponed program will berecorded. The user can obtain this information by navigating to theprogram in question and pressing an “information” key, an “ok” key, or a“select” key on the input device 114 or other suitable means. Incontrast, in another implementation of the Scheduled Recordings listingsscreen 601, depicted in the screen 600 of FIG. 6, the future recordingtime 602 is displayed directly beside the postponed program.

In another embodiment, the interactive media guidance applicationdisplays a placeholder listing for a postponed program in the schedulerecordings listings screen at its original time with a rain check icon508, as well as listing the program at the time to which recording waspostponed. The later time may be marked with a One-Time Recording iconsimilar to One-Time Recording icon 502, a Rain Check icon 508, oranother icon specifically indicating that the recording is based on anearlier postponed recording request. For example, such an icon mightinclude the Rain Check icon 508 with a check mark superimposed thereon.Similarly, in some embodiments, the original recording time may, butneed not be, displayed alongside the postponed recording request.

The Scheduled Recordings listings screen 501 can be displayed inalternative formats without departing from the scope of the invention.For example, programs could be listed alphabetically instead ofchronologically. Multiple columns of programs, corresponding to multipledays, may be displayed on the screen 500 at the same time.Alternatively, the Scheduled Recordings listings screen may be displayedin a Calendar format. In another implementation, users can sort orfilter scheduled recordings by program category (e.g., series, movie,sporting event, or entertainment), by rating, or by genre (e.g., comedy,drama, horror, sci-fi, etc.).

In one embodiment, information about scheduled recordings is displayeddirectly in the program grid. FIG. 7 is a screen 700 including anillustrative program grid 710 including scheduled recording information.As with program grid 210 of FIG. 2A, program grid 710 includes severalcells (generally “cells 712”) corresponding to programs airing atmultiple times on multiple channels. The interactive media guidanceapplication displays the recording status, if any, of each program withthe program's corresponding cell 712. For example, “ER”, displayed incell 712 a, is scheduled for recording as part of a series recording, asindicated by the Series Recording Icon 714. “Will & Grace” displayed incell 712 b is set to record as a one-time recording, as indicated by theOne-Time Recording icon 716. “The Simpsons” is displayed in cell 712 c.“The Simpsons” is marked with a Series Recording Rain Check icon 718.The Series Recording Rain Check icon 718 indicates that the interactivemedia guidance application will record the particular episode of theseries at a later time.

In alternative embodiments of the program listings screens and programgrids, recording status may be identified in additional ways. Forexample, cells in the program grid and rows in the Scheduled RecordingLists may be displayed in varying colors, with each color representing aparticular recording status. Thus, the color can be used to distinguishone listing from another. Alternatively or in addition, the text withineach cell or row may be displayed with a font color or font style thatcorresponds to the respective programs recording status. In someembodiments, a legend is displayed on screen to assist in interpretingthe recording status of the various programs displayed.

When displaying the program grid 710, there is usually insufficient roomwithin a given cell 712 to indicate the time at which a postponedrecording will take place. Thus, if a user desires to obtain suchinformation, the user may navigate a highlight to the cell 712corresponding to the postponed program. The user may then select theprogram by pressing an “information” key, an “OK” key, a “select” key,or other suitable key or combination of keys on the input device 114. Inresponse, the interactive media guidance application displays aninformation screen similar to that depicted in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 depicts a screen 800 including information section 801 displayingpostponed recording information. The information section 801 displaysthe title of the show 802, its original transmission time 804, adescription of the program 806, its recording status 808, as well asrescheduling information 810. In contrast to rescheduling informationdisplayed in

FIGS. 4 and 6, the rescheduling information 810 in the illustrativeinformation section 801 does not include a specific date or time.Instead, the rescheduling information 810 indicates that the programwill be recorded after the conclusion of the preceding program, in thiscase, an NFL Football game. As described above, a data source 124 or theinteractive media guidance application may execute a web service usingthe SOAP protocol or other suitable process for keeping the interactivemedia guidance application apprised of real-time or near real-timechanges in scheduling information. Such information allows theinteractive media guidance application to learn when one program endsand another begins. Similar information can be used to postpone arecording of a sporting event based on real-time or near-real timeinformation about delays caused by inclement weather or other events.

Users can select recorded programs for viewing from a Recorded ProgramsListings screen provided by the interactive media guidance application.The user may access the listings screen by pressing a “Recorded ProgramsMenu” key or key sequence, navigating from one of the interactive mediaguidance application screens, or by any other suitable means. Recordedprograms may be listed chronologically based on recording time oralphabetically based on title.

Postponing program recordation may result in confusion for a userattempting to find a program in the Recorded Programs Listings screen.Users tend to look for recorded programs in the Recorded ProgramsListings screen at the original transmission time, when the user expectsthe program to be recorded. The potential for confusion is greatest whenthe program has not yet been recorded whereas, after recording, theprogram would at least appear in the Recorded Programs Listings screen,albeit in an unexpected location. If a recording scheduled to have beenrecorded does not appear at all, or appears at a later time thanexpected, the user may get concerned that the interactive media guidanceapplication missed recording the program. Thus, in the Recorded ProgramsListings screen of the present invention, this potential for confusionis mitigated using one or both of two features. The first feature isuseful after the original transmission time of a program, but before aplanned later recordation time. The second feature is useful both beforeand after the actual recordation of the program, when the RecordedPrograms list is being viewed in a chronological order. These twofeatures are described in the following paragraphs.

FIG. 9 depicts a Recorded Programs Listings screen 900 that incorporatesthe first of these confusion mitigation features. More particularly,Recording Programs Listings screen 900 includes a list of recordings 901including placeholder listings, for example, placeholder listing 902.The placeholder listing 902 identifies a program that was initiallyintended to be recorded at a first transmission time, but that has notyet been recorded due to postponement. The placeholder listing 902indicates the postponement via text 904 identifying the futurerecordation time and a rain check icon 906. In alternativeimplementations, a placeholder listing may only include or the other ofthe text 904 and the rain check icon 906. The rain check icon 906 andtext 904 can also be displayed in an information window 908 displayed bythe interactive media guidance application above the list of recordedprograms 901.

According to the second confusion mitigation feature, when theinteractive media guidance application displays a Recorded ProgramsListings screen in chronological order, postponed recordings, orcorresponding placeholder listings, are positioned in the RecordedPrograms Listings screen based on their original transmission time.Thus, the postponed recording appears where the user is most likely toexpect it.

To play back a recorded program, the user may select the listingcorresponding to the program from a menu (e.g., the Recorded ProgramsListings screen 900) and press a “play” key or key sequence, select aplay option from an interactive media guidance application screen, orperform any other suitable step to initiate playback.

In other embodiments, the postponement and corresponding user indicationfeatures can be employed when recording multiple copies of programs.Systems and methods for managing the recording, selecting, and managingmultiple copies of programs is described in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/241,523, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now issued as U.S. Pat. No.7,646,962, entitled “Systems and Methods For Recording and Playing BackPrograms Having Desirable Recording Attributes,” which is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method 1000 for managing the recording ofprograms, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention. Themethod 1000 is suitable for implementation, for example, by the userequipment 110 of FIG. 1.

The method begins with the interactive media guidance applicationexecuting at least in part on the user equipment 110 receivinginstructions from a user to record a first program at a first time (step1002). The interactive media guidance application determines, atdecision block 1004, whether recording the first program conflicts withother programs scheduled to be recorded. The conflict check may becarried out immediately upon receiving the request and/or upon receiptof updated programming information.

If recording the first program at the first time poses a conflict (asdetermined at decision block 1004), the interactive media guidanceapplication applies prioritization logic (step 1006) to determine whichof the conflicting programs should be recorded at the first time. Theinteractive media guidance application may determine priorities amongprograms based on user input of relative priority, availability offuture retransmissions of the conflicting programs, expected viewingtime frames, or other parameters suitable for choosing among competingprograms. Recording priority ties may be broken randomly or according toanother suitable selection process.

If, in applying the prioritization logic (step 1006), the interactivemedia guidance application determines that the conflicting program is oflower priority (at decision block 1008), the interactive media guidanceapplication plans to record the first program at the first time. At thatfirst time, at decision block 1010, the interactive media guidanceapplication determines whether the first program will still betransmitted on schedule. As described above, transmission of programsmay be delayed for a variety of reasons including other programs goingbeyond their scheduled end times, events being delayed due to inclementweather, interruption by news events, etc.

If the first program is being transmitted at the first time, asscheduled, the interactive media guidance application records the firstprogram at the first time (step 1012).

If the first program is delayed (at decision block 1010) or if the firstprogram is determined to be of lower priority than the conflictingprogram (at decision block 1008), the interactive media guidanceapplication determines that it is unable to record the first program atthe first time (step 1013). Then the interactive media guidanceapplication determines a future recordation time (step 1014). The futurerecordation time may be determined based on previously obtainedscheduling data received from data sources 124 and/or real-time or nearreal-time data obtained about actual current or imminent programtransmissions.

After a future recording time is determined (step 1014), in response toa user instructing the interactive media guidance application to displaya program listing, for example, as part of a program grid screen, aprogram listings screen, a scheduled recordings listings screen, or arecorded program listings screen, the interactive media guidanceapplication displays a notification indicating that the recording of thefirst program has been postponed (step 1016). Such notification can takethe form of text, an icon, a color variation, or a combination thereofbeing displayed within a program grid cell or relative to acorresponding entry in the program list. At the future recordation time,the interactive media guidance application records the second program(step 1017).

In one embodiment, the notification displayed in step 1016 includes thefuture recordation time. In an alternative embodiment, the notificationonly indicates that recordation has been postponed without indicatingthe future recordation time. In this embodiment, two additional elements(illustrated in phantom) may be added to the method 1000. At decisionblock 1020, the interactive media guidance application determineswhether a user inputs an inquiry with respect to the postponedrecording. Such inquiry may take the form, for example, of the usernavigating to the program on the program listings screen and pressing an“Information”, “OK”, or “Select” key. If the interactive media guidanceapplication receives such an inquiry, the interactive media guidanceapplication display information about the first program, including thefuture recordation time (1022).

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative display screen 1100 showing a scheduledrecordings listings screen 1101 including additional notification icons1110 and 1112 in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. In comparison to the scheduled recordings programs listingsscreens 501 and 601 of FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively, scheduled recordingsprogram listings screen 1101 identifies postponed programs (indicated byrain check icons 1108) which may be viewed via a video-on-demand server(indicated by VOD icons 1110) or for which alternative content isavailable (indicated by the ALT icon 1112). These alternative viewingopportunity indicator icons are particularly useful when a programrecording is canceled due to an irreconcilable conflict (see, e.g., “JoeMillionaire”), or during the period beginning at a program's originalrecording time and ending at the postponed recording time. Based on theindicators, the user may take advantage of an alternative recordedprogram viewing opportunity or alternative viewing opportunities insteadof waiting until the program is recorded at the later time.

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative display screen 1200 showing a program,“The Simpsons”, identified for postponed recordation. In the detailedinformation section 1202, the display screen includes two icons, a raincheck icon 1204 and a VOD icon 1206, indicating alternative recordedprogramming viewing opportunities. The detailed information section 1202also indicates the original recordation time 1208 and the postponedrecordation time 1210. At the bottom of the display screen 1200, a usercan select a VOD button 1212 to be linked directly to thevideo-on-demand version of the program.

FIG. 13 shows an illustrative display screen 1300 including a programbookmarks listings screen 1302. The program bookmarks listings screen1302 includes a list of certain programs available for viewing from thevideo-on-demand server. Users may add programs to the list manually asthey browse the catalog of program offerings made available on thevideo-on-demand server. In addition, the interactive media guidanceapplication, upon postponing the recordation of a program requested by auser, may automatically search for such program in the video-on-demandcatalog to identify a recorded programming viewing alternative for theuser. If the program is identified, the interactive media guidanceapplication adds the program to the program bookmarks listings screen1302. The added program is displayed with a rain check icon 1304 tonotify a user that the program was bookmarked in response to postponingthe recordation of the program at an earlier time. In alternativeembodiments, the bookmarked programs listings screen may be combinedwith a saved programs listings screen that includes on-demandprogramming the user has already begun watching.

FIG. 14 shows an illustrative display screen 1400 showing a program,“Great Apes”, identified for postponed recordation. In the detailedinformation section 1402, the display screen includes two icons, a raincheck icon 1404 and a ALT icon 1406, indicating an alternative recordedprogramming viewing opportunity, and an alternative to view alternativerelated content. The detailed information section 1402 also indicatesthe original recordation time 1408 and the postponed recordation time1410. At the bottom of the display screen 1400, a user can select an ALTbutton 1212 to obtain a list of alternative programs and correspondingtransmission times having content identified by the interactive mediaguidance application as being of similar subject matter. The listing mayalso include links to content available via a video-on-demand server.

The above described embodiments of the present invention are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentinvention is limited only by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for scheduling a recording using a mediaguidance application, the method comprising: receiving, with controlcircuitry, scheduling information associated with a plurality of medialistings; receiving, with the control circuitry, a user request from auser to schedule a media asset for recording at a first time that isbased on the scheduling information; after receiving the user request toschedule the media asset for recording, receiving, with the controlcircuitry, updated scheduling information associated with the pluralityof media asset listings; in response to receiving the updated schedulinginformation, determining, using the control circuitry, based on theupdated scheduling information, that the media asset scheduled to berecorded at the first time is no longer scheduled to be transmitted atthe first time and will no longer be recorded, and automaticallycomputing, with the control circuitry, a time frame based on a viewinghistory of the user, wherein the viewing history indicates a time periodwithin which the user is likely to view the media asset; searching theupdated scheduling information associated with the media asset listingswith the control circuitry to determine whether the media asset will beavailable for recording at a time other than the first time but withinthe time frame; and based on determining that the media asset isavailable for recording at a second time within the time frame,automatically scheduling, with the control circuitry, a recording of themedia asset at the second time.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining that a second media asset scheduled to berecorded at a third time will no longer be recorded because a thirdmedia asset has been scheduled to be recorded at the third time;automatically computing, with the control circuitry, a second time framebased on the viewing history of the user, wherein the viewing historyfurther indicates a time period within which the user is likely to viewthe second media asset; searching, with the control circuitry, theupdated scheduling information associated with the media asset listingsto determine whether the second media asset will be available forrecording at a time other than the third time but within the second timeframe; and based on determining that the second media asset is availablefor recording at a fourth time within the second time frame, scheduling,with the control circuitry, a recording of the second media asset at thefourth time.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: assigning afirst priority to the second media asset and a second priority to thethird media asset, wherein the determination that the second media assetscheduled to be recorded at the third time will no longer be recorded isbased on determining that the first priority is lower than the secondpriority.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first priority and thesecond priority are assigned based on user input.
 5. The method of claim1, further comprising generating for display a scheduled recordingscreen that includes an indication that an alternative media assetrecording opportunity for the media asset has been found at the secondtime.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the scheduled recording screenincludes an indication of a recording status of the media asset.
 7. Asystem for scheduling a recording using a media guidance application,the system comprising: control circuitry configured to: receivescheduling information associated with a plurality of media listings;receive a user request from a user to schedule a media asset forrecording at a first time that is based on the scheduling information;receive updated scheduling information associated with the plurality ofmedia asset listings; in response to receiving the updated schedulinginformation, determine that the media asset scheduled to be recorded atthe first time is no longer scheduled to be transmitted at the firsttime and will no longer be recorded, and automatically compute a timeframe based on a viewing history of the user, wherein the viewinghistory indicates a time period within which the user is likely to viewthe media asset: search the updated scheduling information associatedwith the media asset listings to determine whether the media asset isavailable for recording at a time other than the first time but withinthe time frame; and based on determining that the media asset isavailable for recording at a second time within the time frame,automatically schedule a recording of the media asset at the secondtime.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: determine that a second media asset scheduled to berecorded at a third time will no longer be recorded because a thirdmedia asset has been scheduled to be recorded at the third time;automatically compute a second time frame based on the viewing historyof the user, wherein the viewing history further indicates a time periodwithin which the user is likely to view the second media asset; searchthe updated scheduling information associated with the media assetlistings to determine whether the second media asset will be availablefor recording at a time other than the third time but within the secondtime frame; and based on determining that the second media asset isavailable for recording at a fourth time within the second time frame,schedule a recording of the second media asset at the fourth time. 9.The system of claim 8, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: assign a first priority to the second media asset and asecond priority to the third media asset, wherein the determination thatthe second media asset scheduled to be recorded at the third time willno longer be recorded is based on determining that the first priority islower than the second priority.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein thefirst priority and the second priority are assigned based on user input.11. The system of claim 7, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to generate for display a scheduled recording screen thatincludes an indication that an alternative media asset recordingopportunity for the media asset has been found at the second time. 12.The system of claim 11, wherein the scheduled recording screen includesan indication of a recording status of the media asset.